Prayer is more than talking! Prayer is about transacting with God. I use the word “transacting” because it suggests more than saying words to God.

Think about prayer for a moment. Does it not (what is the word) amaze, astonish, dumbfound?) you? You and I can interact with the Creator of the Universe. Can you imagine it? Can you imagine it? Or, does the thought of transacting with God paralyze your imagination?

I know that I am not always in touch with that reality (though I would like to be). And, sometimes I don’t seem to make contact when I really want to. But, even if occasionally I am aware of God touching my life, is it not a moment worth remembering? Does it not give meaning, security, purpose, and direction to me?

Do you know that this is a praying church? Lots of our members are serious about prayer. I’ve been talking with some of you recently and you have made some incredible disclosures to me about your experiences of prayer.

One man I spoke with said, “When I hear people talk about really engaging God in their prayers, I feel a sense of amazement. It makes me feel that I ought to be praying more often, but I am lousy at doing it. Most of the time when I pray I hear myself asking for stuff and that causes me to wonder whether I’m praying right.”

Another said, “I think that I spend too much time trying to get the words right when I prayer. Sometimes my prayer becomes superficial or rote. Am I asking for the right thing? There seems to be too much minutiae in my praying.” (Kay)

One woman said, “I have a hard time silencing the noise in my head and becoming totally silent. I often get frustrated. But then I try not to take myself and my wondering mind too seriously.” (Prue)

One fellow I talked with was insightful. He said, “I think there is a correlation between the way I learn and the way I pray. I am a visual learner and I find images help me in my times with God. But often my own needs and desires become entangled with my efforts to pray.” (Matt)

A mature person in prayer said, “There are so many facets to my life of prayer. It’s hard to know where to begin. It is like a deep well from which we draw the water of life. For most of my life I have found that being in nature is a wonderful aid to my praying. As a child I prayed in the corner of my back yard; and, then I have retreated to the lake or the mountains for times of prayer. A different environment helps my prayer.” (Martha)

This last conversation reminded me of a conversation that I had with Celeste, a woman in Dalton. When I asked her about her prayer, she explained that she had been feeling guilty recently. Her old way of praying – reading a few verses from the Bible, saying her prayers, etc. – had dried up. Rather, she found herself increasingly driven to silence, simply being before God. Then, they had a seminar in their church and she learned that God had led her into a life of Centering Prayer.

All these persons and you and I are on a journey of prayer in one form or another. The conversations with that I have had caused me to think about another person who was on his journey with God. His name was Elijah. This man is such an interesting and charismatic individual; it is very difficult not to get distracted by his experiences of God and his encounters with King Ahab and his floozy wife, Jezebel. The setting for the text is the confrontation with the prophets of Baal with Elijah the prophet of God on Mt. Carmel. Here is the text:

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."

Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.

Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

In talking with you about this man Elijah, I am resisting the temptation to follow the numerous flashes of inspiration and the fascinating ideas that come to all of us when we read about this man. By resisting these numerous possibilities I can focus on one thing—his prayer, his transacting with God.

First, Elijah was a man on a journey. The curtain is drawn and the opening scene of this drama reveals Elijah the Tishbite confronting King Ahab who has married a Sidonian woman, Jezebel, and she has brought the worship of false gods into Israel. For this, Elijah says there will be no rain in Israel for 3 years. And he departs.

The Lord tells him to set up camp at Wadi Cherith and that the ravens will bring him bread and meat to eat. Rains stop, creek goes dry, and the Lord speaks again. Go, take up residence with the widow in Zeraphath. She complains about the lack of food. Elijah promises the meal will not diminish and the oil will not run out. Her son dies and Elijah raises him from the dead. He meets the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel and the fire falls to the dismay of the false prophets. He prays and the cloud rises out of the sea and the rains come.

The Jezebel threatens to kill him. He is terrified and escapes into the desert and lies under the “flowering broom tree” used for shade and firewood in the desert. Twice the Angel of the Lord awakens him and commands him to rise and eat to prepare for a long journey. Then he journeys deep into the wilderness, into a cave, and into himself.

This was his journey of prayer, his transacting with God. I spoke to you of the transactions of Shallowford members with God to bring this destiny closer home to us. Few of us could identify with Elijah’s journey and the dominance of God in his life. But we will make our journey and it will be punctuated with the presence of God.

As I have talked with people and as I have sought to attend my own journey, it seems to be there are various facets of prayer that people experience:

A deep yearning for something more in your life

A crisis prayer when our backs are to the wall – cry for help

Worded prayers

The Lord’s prayer

Give me prayers

Forgive me prayers

Help me prayers

A Disciplined daily prayer

Mental prayer

Visual prayers

Meditation and prayer

Contemplation in prayer

Divine Silence

(Regression and Start Over)

Where are you on this prayer journey?

Second, this man of God was most vulnerable after his greatest success. He had been on Mount Carmel, he had competed with 450 prophets of Baal, and he won the contest. He had prayed for rain when it had not rained for 3 years and there came a gully washer (frog strangler).

Jezebel the pagan wife of King Ahab, who had introduced and promoted Baal worship in Israel, now threatened Elijah’s life. And, the man who called down fire from heaven was terrified of this flamboyant, pagan woman. He ran away into the wilderness to hide from her and from God. His greatest temptation came on the heels of his greatest triumph.

I point this out because I believe that many of you are on this way. Others will be joining you in the weeks to come. And, some may even now begin more seriously with God. Beware when God reveals himself to you that you do not become cocky or inattentive or off your guard.

Finally, I call your attention to the fact that in the midst of Elijah’s greatest struggle with himself, God disclosed his greatest revelation—the Sound of Sheer Silence. After Elijah fled into the wilderness, into the cave, and into himself. There he was in the darkness locked in a struggle with the devil, satan, the adversary, the dark side, the Darth Vader of the Spiritual World, and God came to him.

The Lord said, “Elijah, what are you doing?” What are you doing in this darkness, despair, and gloom? Then he told Elijah, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.

" There was a great wind, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire a sound of sheer silence (KJV says, A Still Small Voice), and it was so. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

The Lord made it clear to Elijah that his presence was not in those places that Elijah had often looked for the Presence of God. God was not in the mighty wind, like the wind that blew the waves that sank Jonah’s boat. God was not in the quaking of the earth, like the quake that came when Moses received the Ten Words on the mountain. God was not in the fire, like Elijah recalled falling on Mount Carmel. God was in the sound of silence, in the sheer silence, a silence that spoke like a still small voice in his head.

Prayer is more than talking. It is listening, listening to the sound of sheer silence!

Could it be that God is calling some of us here at Shallowford to new ways of being before God – not in flashing lightening, nor thundering heavens, not in the quaking of the earth or the falling of fire but in the inner silence of the soul where we meet God? One of the members that I spoke with would say that that is the way God is leading him.

He described to me the way he enters into the deep silence to listen for God. When I pray I try to focus my mind on God and get it released from distractions. To get focused, it helps me to pay attention to my breathing and to settle my mind and emotions. I begin my praying with the Lord’s Prayer. I pray it and keep my focus until I hear the last word. Then, I go to a verse of scripture that means something to me like “For God so loved the world.” I say that text and think about what it means and how it speaks to me. I try then to be still until I hear the Voice speaking inside of me.

Here is my challenge to you this morning. Take the Prayer Guide from your bulletin. Read over the list of phases of prayer and identify the types of prayer that you have experienced. Choose either form of prayer that is described and practice it for this next week.

Remember! The heart of prayer is transacting with God.

(Insert for Sunday Bulletin)

Phases of a Life of Prayer

• A deep yearning for something more in your life

• A crisis prayer

• Worded prayers

• The Lord‚Äôs prayer

• Give me prayers

• Forgive me prayers

• Help me prayers

• A Disciplined daily prayer

• Mental prayer

• Visual prayers

• Meditation and prayer

• Contemplation in prayer

• Divine Silence

• (Regression and Start Over)

Daily Pattern of Prayer

Quiet. Begin your daily prayer with a time of silence in which you relax and still your mind. “Be still and know that I am God.”

Praise. Think of the greatness of God – Creator, Sustainer, and Guide of life – and give God praise for who God is and what God has done.

Thanksgiving. Go over the blessings of your life—family, fun, friends, books, work, health, and strength—and give thanks for the things you’ve been given.

Confession. Think over the day or the week. Ask God to forgive you for those places wherein you have fallen short. Believe that God does now forgive and accept.

Petition. What are the things that you most deeply desire in your life? Ask for them from God. “Whatever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive it.”

Intercession. Pray for those whom you love. Pray for those you don’t. Pray for those in your awareness who are ill or distressed. Praying for others frees your life also.

Listen. Spend a few minutes listening for God. Pay attention to the thoughts that come into your mind.

Go forth from prayer to life in God’s love and presence.

(Place the above material on one side of the insert and on the other what follows)

Entering the Silence

“Guide for a Week”

This brief guide intends to assist you in entering the silence and listening for God’s still small voice. Fine a place where you can sit each day without interruption. Sit down and remind yourself that you are here to meet God. The following guidance will introduce you to six approaches to the inner silence.

Monday

Get seated comfortably. Relax. Begin to notice your breathing. Concentrate on your breath bringing in life and expelling waste. Begin to count your breaths – 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. until you get to 10. Begin again to count. Do this for 5 minutes. Notice what you are then feeling. Say this prayer: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

Tuesday

Today, get seated comfortably. Close your eyes. Focus on your eyes, eye-sockets, and the mask of your face. Tell this portion of your body to relax. Feel the tension draining out of your body. Imagine this tension draining out of your completely. Continue until you have focused on each part of your body and then pray, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening. “

Wednesday

Spend a minute or two getting quiet in your mind and body. Today pray the Lord’s Prayer in a different way. Begin with “Our Father,” and pray each word slowly and with deep concentration. Pray the entire prayer through without losing your focus. If you lose your focus and your mind wanders, begin at “Our Father,” again. When you have finished praying this prayer, sit quietly for five minutes listening to your thoughts.

Thursday

Today, pray an ancient prayer of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Before engaging this prayer, get still and quiet. Remind yourself that you are here to meet God. Pray these words: “Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.” Repeat the prayer slowly. Then, begin to pray the words in rhythm with your breathing. Lord Jesus… Son of God… Have mercy…. On me. Repeat the prayer for 10 minutes. Then, sit quietly listening to your heart.

Friday

Fix these words in your mind: “Be still and know that I am God.” Get quiet in mind and body. Say these words slowly with your eyes closed: “Be still and know that I am God.” Pause. Then repeat this verse of scripture leaving off a phrase each time. “Be still and know that I am… Be still and know … Be still … Be! Remain in the silence that comes to you.

Saturday

Begin with getting your body relaxed. Focus your attention on God. Meditate on these words of Jesus: “On that day you will know that I am in my Father and my Father in me and I in you.” To meditate think of each word and phrase. Turn it over in your mind. Be open to new insights that come to you. When you finish with the verse sit quietly for 5 minutes.

Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10